In the middle of the night, Gu Yanxi climbed over the wall of the Hua family.
Shaoyao was not surprised to see him push the door open. She did not move, but continued to hug her legs and rest her head on her knees, looking at Huahua intently.
Gu Yanxi sat on the edge of the bed, and the two siblings stayed there all night. They were worried that Huazhi would have a nightmare. In fact, Huazhi did have a nightmare. In the dream, her head and body were separated. She was floating in the air and saw Yanxi holding her and wailing, and Caocao lying in a pool of blood, not knowing whether she was alive or dead.
Her heart was tightened by a pair of hands. The instinct for survival drove Hua Zhi to sit up and take a deep breath. Feeling her body falling into a familiar embrace, Hua Zhi opened her eyes.
Gu Yanxi held the person gently and asked Shaoyao, who had checked his pulse, "How is it?"
"You feel a little weak, or maybe you were frightened. Wait until you wake up... Huahua, are you awake? Are you feeling unwell?" Shaoyao asked hurriedly when she found Huahua woke up.
"I had a bad dream, nothing happened." Hua Zhi looked at the light coming through the window. It was dawn. She raised her hand and touched Yan Xi's face. "Did you get beaten?"
"The paperweight hit it." Gu Yanxi covered Ah Zhi's hand with hers. "It's still early. Do you want to sleep a little longer?"
"No, I don't have much time, hurry up, let them in."
Shaoyao pursed her lips and went to open the door. She knew what Huahua meant by saying that time was running out. Even if she wanted Huahua to rest for a while, she couldn't open her mouth. The emperor had given the order, and Huahua had to find a way to save her life quickly.
Several maids who had not slept all night were all outside the door, some carrying basins, some carrying things. No one was idle, even Mrs. Wu came over early.
Seeing the door open, several people looked over. Shaoyao made way for them and said, "Come in."
Several people hurried into the house and were surprised to see the young lady leaning on the man, but no one showed any strange expression. They had known about the relationship between the young lady and the man for a long time.
Mrs. Wu was not often in the front yard, and she didn't see Gu Yanxi very often. From their expressions, she knew that their relationship was probably... But Zhi'er had just escaped death, so how could she say anything unpleasant
Hua Zhi sat up straight, "Hurry, go and treat Yan Xi's injury."
"Oh." Shaoyao walked out obediently. She immediately opened the medicine box and took out a bottle of medicine. She poured out a few pills and handed them to Huahua, "Eat."
Hua Zhi didn't even ask what the medicine was. She took it and put it into her mouth. Yingchun hurriedly brought some water for her to drink.
Shaoyao was satisfied and left with the medicine box. Gu Yanxi gently stroked the fine cloth wrapped around Azhi's forehead and left.
Hua Zhi raised her hand and touched her forehead. It was a little painful, but not too painful. It was probably because the impact was not severe at that time.
"Tell someone to bring in some hot water. I need to clean myself."
Liu Xiang put down the work at hand and quickly walked out of the house.
"Aunt Si, please wait a moment."
Wu hurriedly shook her hands, "Don't worry about me, I'll just wait here."
Hua Zhi was as calm as usual. If it weren't for the thin cloth wrapped around her head indicating that she was injured, everyone would have thought that today was no different from any other day.
After bathing, Hua Zhi felt much better. She didn't want to leave Yan Xi and Shaoyao alone, so after she had packed up, she was helped by her maid to go to the hall and eat. No matter how important the matter was, she had to wait until she had filled her stomach before thinking about it.
No one else had much appetite, even Shaoyao only ate a bowl of porridge and then put down her chopsticks.
Hua Zhi actually couldn't eat much, but she forced herself to eat two bowls. Her body couldn't be in trouble, especially at this moment.
"Does anyone else in the family know about this?"
Yingchun hurriedly replied, "I only told the Fourth Madam about this, and I kept it a secret from the First Madam."
"Well done." Hua Zhi praised, and turned to look at Wu. "Fourth aunt, I can handle this matter, but I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of the affairs of the inner courtyard in the coming days. Apart from letting me know about the marriages of my sisters, I will not take care of other matters. Fourth aunt, please bear with me."
"That's all I can do for you." Mrs. Wu smiled bitterly. She was also raised in an aristocratic family, so she knew it was best not to listen to what happened next. She stood up and said, "I'll go back to my room first. If you need anything, just send someone to call me."
"Okay, please trouble Aunt Four."
Wu waved her hand and turned to leave.
Hua Zhi looked at the maids again, "You know my business best, so I'll leave it to you. Don't be reckless, and don't back down. I've taught you for so many years, and ordinary people don't know as much as you do. Be more confident, and help each other."
Several maids knelt down and responded. Even if they still felt that they were not capable of such a heavy burden, no one would say that they were incapable. They had to ensure that the young lady had no worries.
Hua Zhi smiled, "We have been master and servant for many years. I trust you more than my sisters at home. You have always treated me wholeheartedly. I will not say anything else. I just want you to know that I can do what others can do for you, and I can also do what others cannot do for you. I hope that our master-servant relationship can withstand any test, and we can still be as close as we are today when we grow old."
The four maids who had followed Hua Zhi the longest, including Liu Xiang who was later promoted to the head maid, all kowtowed heavily and said, "I will definitely live up to the young lady's high expectations."
Hua Zhi nodded, "Liu Xiang has not been with me for that long, and doesn't know much about business, so she should stay by my side and serve me."
"yes."
"Everyone, step back."
The three of them went to the study, and Hua Zhi looked at Yan Xi, "Are you okay if you don't go back to the palace?"
"Nothing." Gu Yanxi didn't want to talk about it. The current situation made him even more anxious. "Do you have a plan in mind on what to do?"
"It's impossible on my own."
This was the truth, and Gu Yanxi was not surprised. However, seeing Ah Zhi so calm, he couldn't help but wonder if she had thought of a solution.
"Things that should be done with the whole country's strength can only be done with the whole country's strength. Let me first talk about financial matters, which I am good at. I want to ask, does the emperor have a private treasury?"
"have."
"Then let the emperor hand it over." Hua Zhi said calmly, "The money in the national treasury is related to the foundation of the country and cannot be touched. The emperor's private treasury can always be touched. It doesn't make sense for me to do business for the emperor and I have to pay for it."
Shaoyao nodded vigorously, Huahua was right, it couldn’t be righter!
Gu Yanxi weighed it in her mind and said, "It's impossible to give you all of it, but it should be no problem to use 70% to 80% of it."
Hua Zhi was already very satisfied with this amount. It would be easier to do things with money in hand. "Since it is the emperor's business, I think he will not restrict me from doing any business as long as I can make money. If I do a small food business like the Hua family, I won't make much money."
"That's right." Gu Yanxi frowned slightly, "But doing business... is still too slow. The cost of building a canal is far beyond what business can support."
"That's natural, that's all."